Shooting suspect in court

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Sonia M. Galindo had been so unlike herself lately that her professors at Central Missouri State University urged her to take a leave of absence from classes this fall.

And her parents were concerned enough to pack their bags and begin driving from Fort Worth, Texas, to their daughter’s home in Warrensburg.

But before they arrived Friday morning, their 25-year-old daughter had been arrested after allegedly gunning down her ex-boyfriend in front of his downtown Kansas City loft.

Galindo’s parents then drove to Kansas City police headquarters and called attorney John A. Picerno.

On Saturday, Picerno said his client recently had been suffering from serious mental problems, some stemming from medical problems, including a miscarriage.

He said he planned several mental health evaluations for his client, who appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court on Saturday to face first-degree murder charges. Galindo stands accused of fatally shooting her former boyfriend, Alexander Gladkov, 23, at 8 a.m. Friday at 127 W. 10th St.

Picerno said Galindo called her parents Friday morning before the shooting. Her parents had initially begun driving to Warrensburg but detoured to Kansas City once Galindo told them she was there, Picerno said.

“There was no mention of killing or suicide,” Picerno said. “She just kept asking them to help her and come get her from Kansas City.”

Then Galindo suddenly hung up the phone, Picerno said. A few minutes later, Galindo called back and told her parents about the shooting, Picerno said.

Galindo sat alone on a courtroom bench Saturday, clutching a handful of tissues, as she waited for the proceedings to begin. The courtroom was nearly empty, except for an attorney, two police officers, a few court employees and five male inmates sitting across the aisle.

“Your folks are here,” said the attorney who appeared with her in court.Galindo hesitated before looking. Then she turned, glanced at them and burst into tears as she looked away. A few moments later, she composed herself, turned back around and said to them, “It’s not like the way they’re saying.”

Picerno was out of town Saturday morning so another attorney, John Michael Quinn, stood in court in his place. Quinn waived the formal reading of the charges as Galindo stood wearing a blue jail uniform and green slippers.

The judge entered a routine not-guilty plea for Galindo. The two police officers then took Galindo to the Jackson County jail, where she remained Saturday night in lieu of a $250,000 cash-only bond.

Her parents declined to comment after the arraignment. Quinn called Friday’s murder a “horrible tragedy.”

Galindo lived alone in a Warrensburg house owned by her parents, according to her neighbors. She had lived there several years and owned five or six dogs, the neighbors said. She was enrolled in the nursing program at Central Missouri State University and worked as a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Warrensburg, according to her neighbors. The Warrensburg and Johnson County fire departments said Saturday they could not comment on whether Galindo worked there.

Gladkov, who attended CMSU on a student visa from Russia, graduated in May. He recently had moved to Kansas City, where he worked at Ernst & Young, an accounting firm.

Picerno said the couple dated for six to eight months but had broken up two to three weeks ago.

Court records said Galindo staked out Gladkov’s loft Friday morning. One neighbor saw her curled up in the fetal position in the lobby at 7:30 a.m., about 30 minutes before Gladkov came downstairs. A surveillance camera recorded Gladkov’s reaction.

“The victim is observed to back up and duck and take off running,” the court records said.

According to court records:

At least five witnesses told police they saw Galindo chasing Gladkov out of the lobby and across the street while shooting at him. After Gladkov collapsed on a sidewalk in front of a parking garage, witnesses told police Galindo stood over him and fired two more gunshots.

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